


Outer

by Silvercloud



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars: Rebels
Genre: Accents, Drama, Established Relationship, Family Drama, Gen, Kallus goes home, Kanan Jarrus Lives, M/M, Making things right, Not Beta Read, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Rating May Change, Rebellion, outer rim space
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-04-20
Updated: 2019-04-20
Packaged: 2020-01-23 01:22:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,033
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18539413
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Silvercloud/pseuds/Silvercloud
Summary: After the Empire falls Kallus has one last (self-appointed) mission on his home world. Ghost crew is on a relief mission to the city of Shuu-Tu, a city on the outer rim planet Swuhanerth, with a long history of violence and danger.





	Outer

**Author's Note:**

> So I had an idea for kallus' backstory and it became this! I'm excited to share this.  
> Just a heads up this isn't beta read.

Looking around the transport there were few people arriving to Shuu-tu. It figured, no one that left ever wanted to come back. Kallus himself had left twenty years ago and never planned on coming back. But here he was.  
The steady hum and rumble of the transport had lulled Kallus into a relaxed state, steadying his nerves. He looked out the window as the droid pilot announced their arrival to Swuhanerth and their upcoming decent to the city of Shuu-Tu and saw a sight that he only saw once before in his life. The planet was heavily populated and clusters of cities could be seen from space, the atmosphere around the cites was sickly discolored and dissipated the farther away from the populated areas it got. The cabin jolted when the transport entered the planet’s atmosphere jerking Kallus out of his dazed state. 

The skyline brought back a rush of emotion, had only seen this sight only one other time in his life. Before, the glimmering mixture of yellow and green it had brought him relief, that he was good enough to get away from the prison below. Now as they descended through the cloud layer, even though he returned any choice, he still felt a pit of dread growing in his stomach.

Kallus couldn’t look anymore, trying to hold a bout of anxiety he looked back down at his luggage. The rather bland looking duffle bag gave him some comfort that this time it would be different.  
A shadow crossed into the transport bringing his gaze back out the window. In the distance only one building peaked above the cloud line. It casted its shadow across the clouds towards him, reaching for him, as if it was trying to make sure he would never leave again.  
It wasn’t an ominous building on its own. It wasn’t pointy or jagged, the windows weren’t tinted, it didn’t outwardly look evil. In actuality it was proudly standing tall with curved front, with large open windows that shined a beautiful gold in the light, and was a sleek light gray. Officially it was the capitol building. Kallus knew better, everyone from Shuu-Tu knew that is was more of a palace looming over everyone in a show the power of the V’zachang syndicate then a government building. During the days of the Republic, the V’zachang had somehow wormed their way into the senate’s favor and many senators had outright ignored pleas from the citizens for aid in riding the planet of the corruption. The senator’s that were receptive to their pleas where quickly pressured into looking the other way and the pleaders were disposed of. 

He picked up the bag whose contents he had snuck across the checkpoint six planets ago and got off the transport. He had actually reacquired quite a few imperial weapons that he could make use of before he left. Most of which he needed some sort of permits or were straight up illegal in most systems. It was for the best to be careful

Leaving the base was the easiest part, no one even noticed him leaving. It’s not like anyone was expecting him to stick around and be a political figure. There were a decent number of rebels that were starting or continuing their political careers. Besides, Kallus had no interest in being a politician, never did, and felt that this would be a good time to disappear from the rebellion for a bit. It was eerily easy to slip away. Not many people even knew him aside from the small faction that he had worked with. The people that would feel his absence the most where that of the Ghost crew. But he couldn’t tell them where he was going, Ezra and Sabine would undoubtedly stick their noses in his business ending with him revealing more then he wanted them to know. Kanan, Hera and Zeb would try to get him to explain in a more subtle way but he couldn’t get them involved with this.  
He thought about telling only Zeb. But that came with its own … risks.  
There was no checkpoint on Shuu-tu, you couldn’t do anything to the city that hadn’t already been done by the populous the lived there. Alexsandr Kallus stepped off the transport onto a planet he swore almost a lifetime ago he would never return to. The streets were lined with rundown shops people of all different species crowded the streets. Kallus coughed as he made his way through the city, his lungs no longer used to the poor air quality. 

He walked down streets he had walked thousands of times, even though he hadn’t walked them in decades his feet instinctively took him through the maze like streets and alleyways. 

_A young Alex ran through the maze like city, clutching his stolen goods in his shaking dirt covered hands. He weaved in and out of the crowded streets, his short stature helping him get lost amongst the sea of bodies. He didn’t have time to make a wrong move as the alien shouts of the men behind him kept pace with him._

Kallus turned and stopped down a familiar alley blocked by an old fence that honestly, he was surprised was still there. 

_Alex, with shaking limbs, tried to climb the linked fence before they caught him. His heartbeat in his ears almost over took the sounds of footsteps that were quickly getting closer._

Kallus climbed the fence with a leisure he was never afforded before. His leg, that never quite healed properly, ached in protest. He gave a sharp hiss as he landed on ground on the other side, a sharp pain running up the entirely of his leg. How did he do this regularly without getting himself hurt?

_He landed on the other side with a dull thud. He shook as he stood his heart threatening to burst from his chest. He looked down at the stolen holo vids in his trembling arms, if anyone found out he had these…, the terrifying thought left his mind as he was spotted by the aliens chasing him. Alex turned a corner before they cold get themselves over the fence then escaped their sight by ducking into the back entrance of a shop._

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_Inside there were a number of Verpine tinkering away at a verity of broken down droids. The room was incredibly hot and humid, steam hissing out of various tools and pipes that Alex had no idea what they were used for. He watched them work away their antenna twitching and eyes darting as they quickly worked. Alex made sure to make himself as small and out of the way as possible. They paid him no mind as he quietly passed through._

_Once he got to the front room of the shop he made sure to get out as quickly as possible, the owner of the store got angry when Alex used his store as a shortcut. Finally outside he was home free._

Kallus looked at the building in front of him, it looked so familiar yet foreign simultaneously. When he was a child it had so much life to it. But now, years later that warmth and comfort that he used to feel seeing as a child turned into cold hostility. 

_Slamming the door open Alex ran straight to his room ignoring his mother’s yells. He spilled the holo vids onto his bed, his hands excitedly scrambling to find the right one. Once he found it he quickly pushed aside the others and sat on his bed, back slouched against the wall. A projection of an old man appeared his voice low and authoritative._  
_“It is an honor to stand before you, for you represent the freedom and the future of our galaxy.”_  
_Alex’s eyes sparkled with a young innocent hope._

__

__

_"The once-great Republic and Jedi Order have become victims of their own ambitions, and the Supreme Chancellor is no more than a pawn of corporate monopolies. As a people you called out for change, you called out for leadership, and I humbly answered that call.”_

_A hope that there would finally be a government that would stop turning a blind eye to his planet, to the corruption, to the warlord that the republic decidedly let remain in power._

The former ISB agent knocked on the door. He didn’t know what to expect, did she even still live here… was she even still alive?

“I told you already I don’t need protection.” He heard the familiar voice of his mother yell. She opened the door, the same blaster in hand that she had when he was a child. “now leave before I—”

She stopped when she saw him, her threat dying in her throat. Kallus knew she would be old but his mind never expected her to look so…different. Her hair had lost the color that he inherited from her, it was now a silvery grey. Her body slightly hunched and her face wrinkled with the decades that had past. Her eyes were the same he noticed as he finally worked up the nerve to look her in them. Her eyes were a sea of emotions.

They always were.

 

_“Together we challenged the system. We asked for equality. And how were we met? With war! The Jedi secret army of—” Alex cut the Holo off as his mother opened his door. Her red hair was up in a bun, which meant she would be off to work shortly. It was just him and his mother mostly, he didn’t think about his father a lot and never asked about him anymore. His mother worked the night shift at the local factory._

__

_She looked at the holo vid in his hand and sighed_  
“‘Xsandr ya can’t keep doin’ this”

_“I know ma” He frowned their outer rim accents thick and unmistakable. He would practice sometimes, speaking with a Coruscant accent, while his mother was away. He was getting pretty good but he knew it would break her heart to know how ashamed he was of where he came from._

_“If they find out that we have these-”_

_“I said I KNOW!” Kallus yelled cutting her off._

_“Do NOT yell at me young man!”_

Mrs. Kallus embraced her son. He could feel her trembling as she cried and he didn’t know what to do. The empire took what emotions he did feel and made him bury them deep down, it was only during his time with the rebellion that he reconnected to them. But things like that took time. Eventually Kallus hugged his mother back. 

“I’m back mother” He said softly.

There was a moment of silence between them where Kallus thought things would be fine before his mother shoved him away from her angrily. Kallus looked at her over, unsure of what he did wrong.

“THAT’S where you were?” She spat, glaring at him like he was a stranger.

“What did..” He let his sentence die when he heard his own voice. For over a decade he had forced himself to use a Coruscant accent until it became second nature. By the time he became an agent people had just assumed he came from the cultured planet and he had never bothered to correct him.But to his mother this was a terrible insult. 

His mother turned and walked back inside, leaving the door open in silent invitation. He closed and locked the door behind him and he took in what was his childhood home. There had been renovations done over the years but it mostly remained the same. He still knew his way around the house and old photos of their family were still up. Photos of him were still up. 

“Be grateful I didn’t rent out your room” She said, the anger in her voice dissipating. She was happy he was back.

Kallus walked to his old bedroom, down the hall second on the right. It wasn’t as had left it, things were neatly put away in boxes as if his mother was going to accept that he was never going to come back and then didn't have the heart to take the last step and get rid of everything. 

He put his duffle bag on his bed then went to the stack of boxes in the corner. He opened the top one. All of his posters were neatly stacked on the top, the edges of the paper becoming brittle from age but all in tact. Most of them were some kind of propaganda or recruitment poster from the clone war and early empire. He didn’t have much of an eye for art but he was sure Sabine would find some merit in them. He rolled them up putting them aside for his trip back. 

Under the posters was everything he used to keep under his bed. He rummaged though it he picked up an old imperial recruitment test booklet. Flipping through the pages Kallus looked at all the notes he scribbled during many late nights of studying. 

_Alone in the house Twenty three year old Alex sat at the kitchen table in the dark with only a small light to read by, furiously jotting down notes. If he wanted to get into the imperial academy on Coruscant he would have to prove that he was too good for whichever hastily thrown together imperial academy was closest to Shuu-tuu. That he was indeed Coruscant material._

__

__

_He knew he was going to be older than most attendees and that he would need to already be ahead if he wanted to graduate early and get a much needed head start. He already wasted enough time on this bantha-shit planet. He had about a week left until the exam to see where the empire will place you. He was confident enough that even if he didn’t get into Coruscant he would at least be placed somewhere far from here._

_He tried not to think about how his mother would react._

“Did you ever make it to an imperial academy?” his mother asked. Her voice tired from the countless nights she thought of him.

“I did,” he admitted “Coruscant”

“Was it worth it?” There was the question he could never answer.

“I…did terrible things in the name of the empire.” His voice quieting as he spoke, “Things I can never even hope to make right.” His voice almost a whisper. 

There was a beat of uncomfortable silence that was almost long enough to think back to —

“I’m just glad you lived to make it home”

_The only light in the house was in the kitchen bringing a warm yellow to the darkness around that surrounded them. Angry Screaming could be heard in the street, if anyone walked past they would hear Mrs. Kallus. Inside Alex was sitting at the table looking down, one hand on the booklet he was studying until she came home early._

__

__

_He tried to tune out what she was screaming at him. He knew what he wanted. Alex squeezed his eyes shut repeating to himself that he was doing the right thing._

_“I SHOULD’VE KNOWN THAT YOU’D DO THIS.”_

_“What? Be better than this place? I can be someone in the empire!”_

_“WHY WOULD THEY WANT SOMEONE LIKE YOU? THEY’LL SEE WHERE YOU’RE FROM AND SEND YOU RIGHT BACK.”_

_His eyes shot open and he looked at his mother with all the hurt he was trying to hold down._

__

_“WHAT DO YOU KNOW?” Be on my side Ma_

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_Alex slammed his hand over the booklet as he stood up, his hurt turning into anger._

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_“I’M GONNA TO GET IN” Why don’t you think I can do this?_

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_“IM GONNA GO TO THE IMPERIAL CORUSCANT ACADEMY.” I’ll do this without you then._

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_“Don’t RAISE YOUR VOICE AT ME!”_

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_He had had enough of this and briskly walked out of the kitchen, his body hitting against the wall of the hallway as he made his way to his room. His mother followed after him, though she didn’t leave the doorway of the kitchen._

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_“’Xsandr!”_

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_Alexander grabbed a duffle and started shoving essentials into it. He picked up the holovid of Count Dooku he had stolen years ago. He stared at it, his thumb caressing the cool metal, remembering what got him to this point._

__

__

_He snapped out of his thoughts and slug the bag over his shoulder leaving the Holo-vid behind as he walked out the door of the house he spent his life in._

_“Don’t walk away from me Alexsandr” His mother called after him. That was the last of it._

The dinner between Kallus and his mother started in a thick silence before Mrs. Kallus forced her way through it. Asking him question after question about his life, what he did, and the most difficult one 

Why?

Late into the night, after all the food set out was eaten, the two were still at the table, Alexsandr having finished recounting what had lead him to join the rebellion, to become a better man. 

“I don't deserve their friendship Ma.” He said finally getting rid of the final part of himself that, to some degree, tied him to the empire. 

“Nonsense,” She said, “It takes a big man to realize he’s wrong, but a good man to try to make up for it.”

She took her son’s hand and gently spoke, “and it sounds like they know that too”

He needed to hear that.

“Ur’Tsx got bought the shop from Mr. Hoh’fhgier.”

Kallus blinked, he did? “When did this happen?” he asked excitedly.

“Oh, this was,” She paused, trying to think back “oh hon’ this was so long ago”

_A 6 year old Alex sat in a corner in the back of the droid repair shop, trying to keep out of the way of all the Verpine. He was bruised, covered in mud, and trying not to cry, he thought he was too old for that kind of thing. The rain outside was coming down hard and cold, at least it was warm in here, especially by the pipes._

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_This was his first time here, and he didn’t know at the time but this would be a regular thing. He never really saw Verpine close up before. He thought it was cool that they all knew so much about droids to fix them so fast. The soft noise in the shop were soothing and Alex quickly found himself drifting off for a nap. As he was distracted he didn’t see a small Verpine crawl close to him._

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_“I’m Ur’Tsx, wanna be friends?” Kallus jumped at the unexpected closeness and loudness of the voice. The kid, roughly his age, was bouncing in anticipation_

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_“Sure” He said sniffling, whipping his nose on his sleeve. Ur’Tsx grabbed his arm and pulled him along with him._

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_Before they left the building Alex’s new friend paused silently for a moment, his antennae twitching. He was left confused looking at his new, possible best, friend._

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_“Whats your name?” Ur’Tsx asked, looking back at him_

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_“uhh, Alex” He said confused. Ur’Tsx’s antennae went back to twitching for a beat then off they were._

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_They weren’t in the rain long, just long enough to go up the stairs to the apartments above, to his friends house. He liked that, having a friend. There they spent hours playing, as kids naturally do._

_“What were you doing earlier?” He asked, pausing their game of make-believe. Alex gestured to the back of his own head “With your antennas?”_

_“Oh, I was just telling my” Ur’Tsx paused for a moment mumbling something to himself in a language Alex yet didn’t understand but oneway will have a basic understanding of. “Parents, where I was going n’stuff.”_

_“How, you didn’t say nothin’?”_

_Now they both were confused._

_“Well I just” He paused, moving his hands up by his antennae. opening and closing them, “you know went bwo wooo woo”_

_“Oh I get it”He didn’t get it and wouldn’t for a long time, and with that they went back to playing._

It was very late when they decided to call it a night. His mother hugged him goodnight. 

“I’m glad you’re home.” She said before retiring to her room. 

Left alone in the dark hallway it all started to sink in. He was really back. 

He slowly made his way back to his old room. It was lit only by the light coming from a few lights from outside. He tiredly moved his bag to the floor and laid on his bed, closing his eyes, trying to drift off to sleep. 

It was very early morning when he woke up from his half sleep. Pulling new cloths out of his duffle bag he made his way out of the house as quietly as he could. The barest hint of light was on the horizon causing the buildings to be silhouetted. It didn't take long to find the droid repair shop he was looking for and no surprise it was open, Droid fights were a 24/7 thing and they always had one or two droids they wanted to fix up. The door gave a small chime when he opened it, letting the employees know he was there. Behind the register, his back turned, was Ur’Tsx.

The shop was much nicer than what he remembered from his youth. The rust and grime on the that used to be stuck to the metallic walls looked to have been mostly scrubbed away, only the faint off-color stain was left behind. On the back wall the entrance to the workshop was now partially covered by faded curtains instead of being fully closed off to hid the workers int he back. The counter was next to the door, with general parts hung on the wall behind it, a small counter jutted out as a small worktable. For quick fixes or side projects on slow days. Even back then, when Mr. Hoh’fhgier owned the place, Ur’Tsx always had side projects he would work on and get in trouble for. Kallus fondly remembered getting half finished and sometimes hazardous things shoved into his arms when his friend thought Hoh’fhgier was coming back room.  
“I’ll be with you in a moment.” the Verpine said, obviously irritated by the way his antennae twitched. Kallus smiled, His friend obviously never grew out of the habit. 

“I need a custom job done” Kallus said bringing back his Coruscant accent.

“One moment please sir,” His friend said again but added his first language “Don’t you see i'm busy? Come back at a reasonable hour like a sane person you ass.”

“Geez is this how you talk about all your customers?” Kallus asked in the same language.

Ur’Tsx quickly turned and saw his long lost friend. 

“Alex?” He put down the chip he had been working on. 

“Ur’Tsx, it’s been a while.” Kallus replied smiling dropping the accent.

“You…you’re back. What? When? How?”

“I’m back. earlier this after noon. How else? The transport.”

They caught up a bit. His friend talking about his new, well new to Kallus, business. 

“Hiding from the Rebels, officer?” Ur’Tsx joked

There was an awkward pause.

“Wait…are you?”

“Huh? No! No I’m not on the run. I actually …joined the rebellion near the end” he admitted. He told his story again and was glad his oldest friend was understanding.“That’s actually why I’m back,” he said in hushed tones, “ I need your help with something.”

The mood turned serious. Ur’Tsx looked over his friend’s shoulder. You never knew who could be listening in. 

They went to the back room to talk. Various parts were scattered around the room, in a chaotic order. There was a table with one stool and stacks of papers, schematic for a variety of things, Ur’Tsx pulled up an extra stool and unceremoniously dropped the papers to the floor next to him. 

Kallus took a seat looking around the room. Then from further in the store he heard the beeps of an R4 unit. 

“What were you thinking?”

Kallus pulled out bits a pieces of a disassembled targeting-blaster, that he had smuggled along with a few other gadgets and put them on the table. 

“Rebellion”


End file.
